Search results

I certainly appreciate the offer and will keep that in mind. :)

I'm thinking of taking it to a paint shop after prepping, and having it done right. I'm also thinking of repainting this in 1968 Corvette yellow with red decals, one of my favorites from when I used to be a motor head.

No damage to the fork that a little cylinder hone won't cleanup. The environment in this area is coastal with a good bit of salt in the air as you get closer to the ocean. Fortunately, most of the parts I've removed with the exception of the crank bearings are reusable.

Finally, after two weeks of fighting galvanic corrosion and plain old rust, I've got the frame of the R500 ready to strip and repaint. As you can see from the pictures, life at the beach has been hard on the old girl, but the corrosion hasn't gotten to the point where the structural stability of...

I finally got it to move in the right direction after many judicious taps with a hard-faced hammer. Although I destroyed the wedge, the stem is still in pretty good shape under the corrosion. Thanks for the support and encouragement!

I did try that at first, but the pieces that are coming out now show rust at the outside. I ended up drilling the hole out as big as I could, then drilling a pilot down one side to thin it out more. A small punch forced between the tube and the wedge is breaking it into manageable pieces. I'm...

Not only did I tap it with a hammer, I beat it with a big hammer, pulled the bolt and made a puller for the other end through the forks and beat while pulling. Nada. Now I've started drilling the wedge away, hoping that the stem will pull out after the wedge is gone. I'm not overly optimistic...

You me both!

Moving right along the teardown of this 86 SR500, I've arrived at a handlebar stem that won't budge. I removed the bolt after unsuccessfully trying to tap it down and free the wedge, and made a puller for the bottom of the fork to try and separate the wedge by pulling it down. I believe it has...

I thought that I was going to regret swapping the Schwinn all the while that cone was squealing as it came out, but now I'm happy with the trade again.

Relieved and surprised. I feel much better about stripping the paint and fixing the corrosion on the frame now that I've seen how tough it is.

Finally! I went shopping for a carbide cutter to tackle the hard steel of the cone. After much grinding, I heated the bottom and applied a three foot cheater to my flat metal wrench. This thing screamed all of the way out, and I thought for certain that the threads would be ruined. Everything...

I drilled a small hole in the bottom of the frame to get a little more oil in. Tomorrow is another day. It is a shame that the bike was so poorly cared for, although it does have enough good parts that I can get my money back if I can't get this out.

Here is the part after being soaked overnight in penetrating oil, face ground for a better purchase, and frame heated. All I managed was to twist the piece of steel that I used for a wrench. I tried getting a high speed hacksaw blade in there to split the cone, but this stuff is harder than last...

Thanks for the input. I thought of increasing the pin hole size, but this stuff is hard, even for a good bit. I'm not certain a small tap wouldn't break off, but will save that suggestion for a last ditch effort. Heat will probably help once I get a a better purchase on the face. In order to do...

I've started the repairs to the 86 SR500 and have already run into issues. First, the pedals have grown to the crank arms, and then the bearing preload cup is badly galded to the aluminum to the point where the pin wrench sheared off trying to budge it. I've started grinding a relief slot in the...

That is a gorgeous ride!

Excellent info. I rode that old Raleigh Grand Prix through rain, shine, and snow back and forth to college in Fredonia, NY until 1975. When I left for Texas, I took the Frejus with me, so 1976 would have been my last ride until now.

I had one of the last Raleigh's built in England before they went to Malaysia in the early seventies. Didn't know they had made them in the states. Good information.

That is one of the reasons I made the trade. Once I've put it back together this coming weekend, I'll [post some pictures of the old guy on the cool bike...hopefully upright!